Port Appin layover

This little model has been floating around the office for a while now waiting to be sorted out. I've picked it up, put it down, sworn at it, been close to stomping on it - it's been a real trial. It's looking the best it'll ever look so it's going on the shelf as 'finished'.

I've cobbled this little cameo together so I can Blip a pic for today but it's based on my recollections of Scottish rural transport in the 1960's. Imagine a side road in a small village. The driver of the local bus lives in a cottage nearby and he leaves his vehicle parked in the street on a 'layover'. This is no fairy tale it's what actually used to happen before computer rostering, GPS tracking and interfering accountants fretting over Return On Capital Employed, Depreciated Book Value, Shareholder Value and all that stuff. OK, the profit margins were lower but customer service was paramount and their appreciation never greater.

Surprisingly the vehicle would NOT be vandalised, was probably unlocked and the neighbours didn't feel deeply offended at a bus outside their front door. Even more surprisingly the neighbours probably lived full time in the village and didn't just pop up once or twice a year to stay in their second home.

Nobody had done anything nasty in the phone box and it still worked. The cooncil hadn't slapped yellow paint over every bit of useful parking space and didn't charge parking fees that went up WAY beyond inflation every year.

The bus driver possibly knew most of his passengers, would wait for those he expected but were 'running late' and still kept to his broad schedule. He would help them on the bus if needed and didn't drive off as soon as he saw someone running to catch it. (As happened to my wife and I on the Stagecoach Perth Park and Ride). Though to be fair, the driver did give us a smile.